Photos: Fires threaten parts of Australia

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – The Wambelong Fire burns near the Siding Spring Observatory near Coonabarabran, Australia, on Monday, January 14.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – The Redbank North Fire burns close to the Newell Highway near Coonabarabran on Monday.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – A water-bombing helicopter returns from a fire area to the town of Yass, in the southern part of New South Wales state, on Friday, January 11.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – A scrub fire burns up a hillside south of Bookham near Yass on Friday.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – Fire leaves a tree and paddock blackened near Bookham on Thursday, January 10.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – Firefighters attack a fire from the ground on Wednesday, January 9, in Bungendore, Australia. A "catastrophic warning" was lifted, but the fire risk was still considered "severe" in the northeastern part of New South Wales. The threat has eased as temperatures have fallen in the southern Australian state, but authorities warn the danger isn't over yet.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – Burned sheep lie in a paddock near Bookham in New South Wales on Wednesday. An estimated 10,000 sheep have died in the New South Wales bushfires.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – A firefighter douses trees from the Deans Gap fire near Nowra on New South Wales' southern coast on January 9.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – Trees smolder near Nowra on January 9.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – A chopper carries out water-bombing operations on a fire at Sandhills in Bungendore on January 9.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – Smoke rises from a wildfire in Nimmitabel, a town in New South Wales, on Tuesday, January 8.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – A firefighter battles the flames of the Dean's Gully fire at a property near the town of Wandandian in New South Wales, on January 8.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – A fire danger rating sign set to catastrophic stands near fire trucks as smoke billows into the sky on the outskirts of Wandandian on January 8. On Tuesday afternoon, more than 130 fires were burning throughout NSW, according to the NSW Rural Fire Service.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – Firefighters continue to hose around a tree that survived a fire in Oura in New South Wales on Tuesday.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – Burned out cars lie abandoned at the jetty on the Tasman Peninsula in Boomer Bay, Tasmania, on Tuesday.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – Smoke is seen billowing over the closed Hume Highway near Tarcutta in New South Wales on Tuesday.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – A kangaroo hops through a field burned by recent fires in Sunbury north of Melbourne on January 8.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard inspects the destroyed remains of the Dunalley school in southeast Tasmania, Australia, on Monday, January 7.

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Photos:Fires threaten parts of Australia

Fires threaten parts of Australia – Buildings lie in ruins on Saturday, January 5, from bush fires that hit Dunalley, a town on the Australian island state of Tasmania.